Bottle



L. L. LEWIS 2,263,882:

Nov. 25, 1941.

BOTTLE Filed May- 10, 1941 Lesier L. LEI 55 Patented Nov. 25, 1941 BQTTLE Les er. wis a ot. Pa s i nor of ne-half.

' to Howard YiBonsaLYalencimPa.

App i ation-May 1941, Seria N0 12 916 5 Claims,

This inventionrelates toimprovements means to. safeguardbottle-closures, and par.

ticularly means associatedwith such a closure to cancel or destroy arevenue stamp or thelike. henthe bottle is. opened.

Itis desirable to encloseandto. destroy at the firstopening of the bottle such an indicia-beare mgr-element, which forv convenience will .beillustrated by arevenue stampin. this description.

A purpose toward which this invention is directed is to. seal a revenue stamp within a bottle neck so thatit is protected positively against tamperingandyet is certainvto be destroyed the firstltime. anycontents of the bottle are removed.

An additional objectis, to provide such a bottle structure by means. that aresimple to manu-.. facture and to. assemble in large quantities and of inexpensive material. v v

An additional purpose. is to. provide such abottle structure that permits removal ofall the contents of the bottle. It may be stated that this invention is not necessarily. associated with a non-refillable bottle, though its usemay be desirable, with non-refillable bottles.

Novel and useful features of this invention are presented in the appended drawing. and particularly pointed out in the. accompanying claims, taken with the, following illustrative description.

In the. drawing:

Figure 1 shows-avertical assembly view partly in cross-section of a preferred form of this invention with thebottle closed. and. a revenue. stamp in place and intact;

Figure 2 shows, theclosure of Figure 1 butwith the closure.- remove d sufiiciently for liquid to be poured from the bottle and with a revenue stamp destroyed;

Figure 3 shows a cross-section through the bottle neck of Figure 1 along the line 33; and

Figure 4 shows a modification of this invention.

In brief, the principles of this invention are developed in a closure that crushes a revenue stamp at the first opening of the bottle. Preferably, the crushing is accomplished between a stopper and a guard member by means of an integral or unitary lifting rod.

The invention will be understood more clearly by a specific description of the elements and of their preferred mode of assembly and of operation. However, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to this specific embodiment, but may be practiced otherwise and will comprise such equivalents as may be comprehended within the scope of the claims of this application.

In the. drawing is .illustrated a. bottle. neck; I. of considerable length; Near thebottom of the. neckare closure elements illustrated in this case. by a thickened neck, wall land. forming a stopper opening, and :by a stopper 3.. The stopper bears a rod liadapted to lift against an appreciable reg sistanceand extending, as an integral. unit up to; the, top of the. bottle andv terminating-in the, handlei. By, this meansthe. bottle may be closed with the stopper 3,1 butthe stopper may be with-.

drawn or. be reinserted by means of the handle and connectingrod. Y i

30d 1 may, extendentirely through the stopper 3 andbe held in place vby washers above anclibe-g 10W: the cork. O-r alternatively,v asillustrated in Figure .4, the rodwhichwill be designated. as rod 6 may extend only partly into thecork and. be. molded in placewith; a. suitable base-retaining member suchasq-a washer. At the top of the bottle the rodimayconvenientlybe secured tother handle 5 by providing anopening, to the handle 5,; intowhich the rod-4 or. r0d6 will extend with a.v holeithrqugh, the top ofthe rodfor a, cotter key. In addition is provided a guide 1 for; the rod. suitable, topermit assembly as a unit withv the.- stopp r ndthe. li g rod..- This guideis perf rated so that the rod may extend;therethrough,. utclosely surrounds t e d. It s preferable to, construct this guide in,a ;f0rm that willpre vent tamperingwith, the closure. or; with the revenueestamp H to. be contained in the. bottle-.- necle As shown in the drawing, such a guard; mpris s a cylindricaLstopp r. preferab y ollowbutprovided With passagewaysi r fl wof 1iquid;.,.

-therethroueh-. 'I'he. stopper in. the form showuis. closed across the bottom by a wall 8 through the center of which extends rod 4. Also perforating the guard wall 8 are suitable openings for flow of liquid. The guard wall is grooved to contain a split ring [0. The inner walls of the bottle neck are grooved in complementary arrangement so that when the closure unit is pushed into place the split ring in the grooves of the guard expand into the complementary neck crevice and will lock the guard in place.

A space is left between the top of the stopper 3 and the guard bottom 8. Within this space may be placed a revenue stamp or other indicia, of readily deformable material. Preferably this simply is in the form of a cylinder. Such a cylinder of deformable material will not pass through the guard opening for the rod 4, but is somewhat larger than that opening. Thus as the stopper is drawn upwardly the revenue stamp is' crushed and thereafter remains mutilated.

However, the strength of paper or foil or the like is considerable and requires pronounced pull on the integral rod in the stopper.

The passageway 9 for flow of liquid through the guard wall 8 may be modified. Thus for example, separate openings are absent as shown in Figure 4 and in lieu thereof the rod 6 of Figure 4 is reduced in diameter below the bottom of the guard so that as the rod 6 is drawn upwardly through the guard a passageway appears along the rod itself for flow of liquid. Nevertheless, the cylinder of crushable material such as a revenue stamp is sufficiently large to be deformed against :receive a cylindrical stamp. Then the guard may lbe slipped down around the rod and then handle be attached to the top. This assembly may be :treated as a unit. As a unit it may be inserted :into a bottle neck. The split rings of the guard .spring into locking position with the neck wall at substantially the same time that the stopper is forced into the position to close the bottle. No withdrawal of the stopper can occur without crushing the revenue stamp so that the stamp is destroyed the first time the bottle is opened. Yet when the stopper is removed from the opening, liquid readily may be poured in the bottle. It should be clear that this invention is not necessarily associated with a non-refillable bottle structure. Yet if the bottle is refilled the stamp remains mutilated. The stopper may be withdrawn and reinserted as many times as desired if the bottle is of non-refillable type, but the destruction of the revenue stamp is unavoidable from the first the bottle is opened.

It will be evident that other positionings and structures for retaining the revenue stamp is crushable position may be devised, but this invention provides means to prevent tampering with the stamp, to assure crushing of the stamp when first the bottle is opened, and to permit pouring liquid from the bottle as many times as one may desire and to permit the bottle to be emptied entirely.

According to the patent statutes, the principlesand preferred operation ofthis invention have been described in what is now considered to represent its best embodiment, but it is understood that within the scope of the appended claims modifications will now occur to those skilled in the art and may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

What I claim is:' V I 1. In a bottle having an extended neck, closure means near the lower end of said neck, a guard within the neck above said closure means, means passing through said guard to open and close said closure means, and an indicia-bearing cylinder of readily deformable material surrounding the closure-operating means between the guard and the closure means.

2. In a bottle having an extended neck, a stopper adapted to be seated in an opening near the lower end of said neck, a guard within the neck above said stopper, a rod passing through said guard and connected to said stopper, and an indicia-bearing cylinder of readily deformable material surrounding the rod between the guard and i the stopper.

3. Means for protecting indicia in a bottle comprising a stopper for a bottle neck, an elongated integral element extending therefrom and adapted to receive an encircling indicia-bearing element of readily deformable material, and a guard comprising a wall having a restricted opening through which the elongated element may slide, the guard being adapted to be slipped into a bottle neck, and then looked, so as to be assembled as a unit and so that on moving the closure element toward the guard the deformable material will 'be crushed between the closure and the guard.

4. Protective means for bottle closure comprising a stopper, an integral rod extending from the stopper to fit it for use in an extended bottle neck, a guard adapted to be fastened into the bottle neck and provided with an opening through which the stopper element may slide, means to withdraw the stopper of sufiicient length to receive an indicia-bearing cylinder of readily deformable material in such position that when the stopper is withdrawn the deformable material is crushed.

5. In combination, a bottle having an extended neck, a thickened neck portion to form a stopper opening, a stopper, an' elongate integral rod extending from the stopper to the top of the extended bottle neck, a guard adapted to be fastened into the bottle neck above the stopper and provided with an opening through which the stopper rod may slide, the rod being adapted to withdraw the stopper and extending between the stopper and the guard for suificient space to receive aniindicia-bearing cylinder of readily deformable material so that when the stopper is withdrawn the deformable material is crushed.

LESTER L. LEWIS. 

